Do I Require To Use Primer Sealer In Auto Painting

Surface preparation - should I apply a primer or sealer?

Some call them primers and some call them sealers, just are these terms interchangeable?

For me, the answer is no. An epoxy primer serves a unlike purpose to an epoxy sealer and if yous're not careful making that distinction it could come dorsum to bite you lot. The fact is, primers won't e'er be suitable for sealing and sealers won't always be suitable for priming. The key to avoiding bug is only request why y'all are priming or sealing in the first place.

Primers increment adhesion

In my opinion, a primer is used for its agglutinative qualities, meaning the next glaze doesn't accept sufficient adhesion or is non compatible with the surface it's bonding to. An everyday example would exist using a primer before trowelling a 6:1 mix of resin and sand. At six parts sand to 1 part resin, in that location's barely enough resin to hold the sand together allow lone provide a proficient agglutinative layer and priming would therefore exist beneficial.

Sealers are for sealing

A sealer, on the other hand, serves the purpose of closing off the substrate before you apply the first coat. Y'all can use a sealer for a number of reasons, including the prevention of defects like pinholes or to better the finish of subsequent coats.

Another difference betwixt the two is that you lot tend to only require a unmarried primer coat whereas yous can require multiple sealer coats. For example, you lot apply the first sealer coat and detect it looks sealed/glossy in some areas, only bone dry in others. If I was concerned about defects, I'd want to meet a consistently sealed surface before the showtime glaze went down.

Sealing a concrete slab with a clear epoxy sealer.

Do I have to prime or seal?

A big question that comes into play on this topic is whether you e'er need to prime or seal. Once again, the respond is no. You tin buy primerless products that are resin rich enough and surface tolerant enough to be applied directly onto the substrate, eliminating the actress labour and product required to apply a primer. You lot can too get surfaces that aren't weak or porous and won't need a sealer to bring them upward to scratch.

Finally, is it worth priming and/or sealing "just in case" to guarantee ameliorate results? Y'all guessed information technology - no, not always. I tin can give you lot an example where sealing really acquired the trouble. In this instance the contractor wanted a sealer to strengthen porous physical, nonetheless in doing and then they compromised the adhesion and caused some big headaches for themselves. Information technology's a very interesting story that I'll have to encompass in more than detail at another fourth dimension.

Take care and keep smile,

Jack